The popularity of denim fabrics among consumers of all ages has been well documented by sales in a large number of countries throughout the world.
Denim is cotton cloth. A conventional dyestuff for denim is the dye indigo having a characteristic blue colour, the indigo-dyed denim cloth having the desirable characteristic of alteration of dyed threads with white threads which upon normal wear and tear gives denim a white on blue appearance. A popular look for denim is the stonewashed look.
Traditionally stonewashing has been performed by laundering the denim material or garment in the presence of pumice stones which results in fabric having a faded or worn appearance with the desired white on blue contrast appearance described above. This stonewashed look primarily consists of removal of dye in a manner to yield a material with areas which are lighter in colour, while maintaining the desirable white on blue contrast, and a material which is softer in texture.
Enzymes, particularly cellulases, are currently used in processing dyed twill fabric, especially denim. In particular cellulolytic enzymes or cellulases have been used as a replacement for or in combination with pumice stones for the traditional "stonewashing" process sued to give denim a faded look. Use of enzymes to stonewash has become increasingly popular because use of stones alone have several disadvantages. For example, stones used in the process cause wear and tear on the machinery, they cause environmental waste problems due to the grit produced and result in high labour costs associated with the manual removal of the stones from pockets of garments. Consequently, reduction or elimination of stones in the wash may be desirable. Contrary to the use of pumice stones, enzymes, in particular cellulases, are safe for the machinery, result in little or no waste problem and drastically reduce labour costs.
A major proportion of the denim garments sold today are treated to impart some aesthetic or fashionable character to the fabric or garment, often a worn or abraded look.
Examples of widely used means of imparting an aesthetically pleasing look or a fashionably faded or worn look to denim fabrics or garments are the processes of stonewashing, ice washing, acid washing, sand blasting, bleaching, overdying, i.e. mechanical or chemical processes.
It is an object of the present invention to achieve a new garment with a special abraded look, i.e. a garment with a considerable variation in the abrasion level, in which the abraded look near stitchings are different from the abraded look far from stitchings.